Edward Snowden, the whistleblower who leaked top secret
documents revealing a vast surveillance program by the US government to
the Guardian newspaper. (photo: Guardian UK)

Fairly quickly
the commercial press is going to turn the NSA domestic spying story into a
fox-hunt for Edward Snowden.

A very public high-speed chase will serve to paint Snowden
as a criminal and, of equal or greater value, divert attention from what
Snowden exposed.

Before the chase scene begins it bears noting what Edward
Snowden said, and the sacrifice that he made.

"I will be satisfied if the federation of secret law, unequal pardon
and irresistible executive powers
that rule the world that I love are revealed even for an instant."

"I really want the focus to be on these documents and the debate which
I hope this will trigger among citizens around the globe about what kind
of world we want to live in ...
My sole motive is to inform the public as to that which is done in
their name and that which is done against them."

[Communicating with Washington Post reporter Barton Gellman]:
The U.S. intelligence community, he wrote, "will most certainly kill
you if they think you are the single point of failure that could stop this
disclosure and make them the sole owner of this information."

"I had full access to
the full rosters of everyone working at the NSA, the entire
intelligence community, and undercover assets all around the world … Any
analyst at any time can target anyone … I, sitting at my desk, certainly
have the authorities to wiretap anyone - from you or your accountant, to a
federal judge, to even the President."

"The government has granted itself power it is not entitled to.
There is no public oversight. The result is people like myself have
the latitude to go further than they are allowed to."

"I'm willing to sacrifice all of that because
I can't in good conscience allow the US government to destroy privacy,
internet freedom and basic liberties for people around the world with this
massive surveillance machine they're secretly building."

"I don't see myself as a hero," he said, "because what I'm doing is
self-interested: I don't want to live in a world where there's no privacy
and therefore no room for intellectual exploration and creativity."

Marc Ash was formerly the founder and Executive
Director of Truthout, and is now founder and Editor of Reader Supported
News.